The Phoenix Born (A Dance of Dragons #3)

by Kaitlyn Davis

  "Jin! I need to speak with you immediately," he called. Jinji, Leena, and Bran looked up from their plates, a little alarmed but mostly curious. Janu, he noticed, sat in the corner, staring at the wall with a deep frown darkening his features. The man was lost in his own mind, barely aware of the world around him.

  "What?" Jinji asked.

  He stepped closer, taking her hand from the loaf of bread she had crumbled to pieces and slipping her fingers through his. "I have a theory I need to discuss with you."

  "Can you discuss it with all of us?" Leena asked, brows cinched. "We could use the distraction."

  Jinji immediately jumped from her seat, glancing around the room and shaking her head. "No, we should talk alone."

  Rhen shrugged. "There's no need. This is something we should all hear. I believe I might have found the way to defeat the shadow."

  He couldn't help but notice that Janu jerked his head, swiveling quickly to watch Rhen, eyes sharp. But Leena and Bran stepped forward, also captivated by his words. Small smiles gathered on their lips, the first sign of hope they'd had all day.

  Jinji gripped his hand tighter. Beneath her skin, he felt her pulse quicken, heart beating rapidly in her chest. "Please, Rhen, let's talk in private."

  "Why?" Janu asked, tone low.

  Jinji turned on her brother. "Because," she started, frustration evident, "I know many things about the shadow that no one else does. I wouldn't want everyone to get excited if Rhen's discovery is something I have already thought of and know won't work."

  "But—" Leena began.

  "No!" Jinji shouted.

  A blast of wind tore through the kitchen, pushing Rhen out the door and silencing any more protests. He stumbled backward, blown over, until the gust died down, depositing him near the front steps of the castle. Silent and alone.

  Shuffling feet drew his attention. A moment later, Jinji appeared in the hall, shoulders drooped low. But her eyes were wide, crazed. And he knew in that instant, there was something she wasn't telling him.

  "Jin," he whispered.

  She stopped a foot away from him, shaking her head. "Please, not now. Let's go find a place to talk."

  He reached out, gripping her arm softly until she gazed up at him. "You can't treat us like this."

  She blinked, looking away. Disappointment flashed over her honey-brown irises—disappointment in herself. "I know."

  "You are more powerful than any of us," Rhen continued, pushing the point, "but that doesn't mean you should force us to obey you just because you can. You're our leader, and I know you want us to follow out of respect, not out of obligation. The nobles, the kings, perhaps they will only listen out of fear for how you might react should they disobey. But we are your riders. Not your equals, but your comrades, your friends. You have our respect and our trust. Don't lose it, not when the world hangs in the balance."

  "I'm sorry," she whispered, stepping away. Rhen let her go, waiting for an explanation, but she offered none. Her eyes were bright with swirling thoughts, but her lips remained shut, sealed tight, and they showed no signs of opening. For the first time in a long time, Jinji didn't let Rhen in.

  "Come," he finally said after a few moments of strangled silence. "I know a place where we can talk and I can tell you what I've learned."

  He led her upstairs to a sitting room he remembered using once a long time ago, when he and his family had visited Brython on a royal tour of the kingdom. Jinji walked past the row of chairs and the plush couch, instead dropping down on a bench tucked beneath the window. Rhen took the seat beside her, and without warning, she curled into his side, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She hugged her small arms around him, burrowing against his side, seemingly taking shelter from the world. Rhen pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head, holding her as he stared through the window.

  Outside, the sun was beginning to drop in the sky, sending a warm yellow light through the mountains, covering Brython in a soft foggy halo.

  Inside, the woman in his arms began to tremble.

  "Jin, what's wrong?"

  She shook her head against his chest. "I wish—" She took a deep, shaky breath, stopping herself. "I wish I could tell you, more than you know I wish I could. But I can't. Not yet."

  And Rhen, because he trusted her with his whole heart, ended his questioning. There had been too many times in recent memory that Jinji, so strong and so defiant, had felt so fragile. The woman he held was one breath away from breaking, and it killed him that he didn't fully understand why.

  "Shh," he whispered, running his palms up and down her arms, sending the heat from his always-fiery core into her cold, shivering limbs. And then he said the one thing he was hoping might ease her fears, might lighten the burden weighing down her heart. "I think I might have discovered how to defeat the shadow," Rhen murmured, repeating his earlier statement. Jinji didn't respond. She felt numb in his arms. Rhen leaned back slightly, trying to meet her eyes, but her gaze was locked outside, unblinking. He continued, "When I was out with Firestorm, a phantom visited us. The same one I saw in Rayfort, the same one that led us to that underground castle and sent us the clues about the existence of the dragons. He was Firestorm's previous rider, and he touched the dragon, somehow sending us both a memory from ages past."

  Jinji finally looked at him. "What memory?"

  "Of his death. Of a massacre that took place in the castle at the top of the Gates. He—"

  "I've seen it," Jinji interrupted him, tone growing sad. "How does that help?"

  "It doesn't," Rhen said, shaking his head to make her listen. "But what happened afterward does. The phantom left us a message scrawled in the dirt. Two words. True body." Jinji inhaled sharply, leaning back as her eyes grew wide, filling with panic—with a worry Rhen didn't understand. He pressed on. "I think I know what it means. We've only ever seen the shadow in possession of another person's body, holding them captive. But he must have a body of his own, a true body that his soul is tied to. If we can find it, and kill it, maybe—"

  Jinji stopped him by grabbing his cheeks and pulling his face against hers, kissing him urgently. Rhen tried to pull away, to understand why she wasn't thrilled by the news, but her hands traveled to the back of his neck, grip tight, and he couldn't break her hold. Her lips moved fast against his, pleading with him silently. Everything about her was desperately trying to hold on to the moment, to stop time, as though she were drowning and the air from his lungs was the only thing that might save her, as though he were her tether to life.

  Rhen wanted to give in. More than anything, he wanted to melt beneath her touch and forget the world, to kiss her until the sun rose the next morning, and even then maybe not stop. He could so easily get lost in the fire of her touch, the silkiness of her skin.

  But he couldn't let himself.

  The woman he loved was in pain.

  Her kiss wasn't full of passion. It was full of dread. Rhen sensed the dark taste on his tongue.

  "Jin," he mumbled against her lips.

  But she didn't stop.

  Rhen reached back, unlatching her fingers, pulling her forcibly away from him, finding her eyes. "Jin?"

  And with that word, she couldn't avoid what was in her heart any longer. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she gave in, collapsing against him as her body racked with sobs. The moans came from a dark place within her, ripping their way up her throat, making him wince at the sound.

  Rhen wanted to demand answers.

  He wanted to force her to explain, to let him in, to tell him what had her so distraught.

  But he didn't.

  He just held her, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back. Not questioning. Not demanding. There would be time for answers later. Right now, Jinji needed a shoulder to cry on and nothing more. He gave that to her, embracing her until sleep claimed them both.

  11

  JINJI

  ~ BRYTHON ~

  Jinji woke shivering against a cold stone floor as the mo
rning breeze brushed her cheeks, stealing all the heat from her skin. Blinking, a cloudy canopy came into view overhead, moving gently in the wind. She hugged her arms around her torso and sat up, trying to understand where she was.

  Outside. But where? Why?

  She looked around, finding a low stone wall with vertical slits, sensing that the air was the slightest bit thinner. Walking to the edge, Jinji realized she was on top of one of the castle towers, still in Brython. The last thing she remembered of the night before was falling asleep in Rhen's arms, desperately afraid that he would come to his senses, would start to question her, would press for answers she wasn't prepared to give—that she knew about the true body, that it was her brother, that she had been lying to everyone for days while desperately searching for some alternate ending to this war.

  But no.

  Rhen had done the exact opposite, always surprising her. All night, he had cocooned her in his love, made her feel safe and warm, and now her stomach rumbled with nausea just thinking of how selfish she had been. Maybe her mind had done what her heart could not—maybe deep in sleep, she had left Rhen, unable to continue the lie any longer. But that still didn't explain why she'd come here, outside in the freezing cold, alone.

  Taking one last look at the view and the empty city nestled into the valley below, Jinji turned away, leaving her doubts behind. It was time to move on. It was time to find the last dragon. She had to keep moving forward. If she stopped for even a second, if she questioned for even a moment, everything would fall apart. She was certain.

  Jinji found the others in the kitchen where she had left them the night before.

  "It's time to go," she said.

  Leena leaned forward, placing her forearms on the table and narrowing her wide eyes, an expression that fell somewhere between suspicion and hope. "Rhen told us his theory this morning. Why is it you didn't want us to learn what he'd learned?"

  Jinji sighed, glancing around the room. Bran was also watching her with a wary expression, and she couldn't judge him or Leena for that reaction. After her actions last night, she had earned their suspicion. But still, Jinji edged around the question, asking one of her own instead of answering. "About the true body?"

  Leena nodded. So did Bran.

  But when Jinji slipped her eyes to her brother, expecting that same challenging stare, he was instead leaning back with his arms crossed, unrecognizably relaxed. And then he winked, barely covering his grin.

  The shadow was back.

  He was listening.

  "Rhen is right," she admitted, already feeling the weight of so many lies bearing down on her shoulders, exhausting her. "The shadow does have a true body. I've known this for some time, but that will not help us, not really. It is a start, but not the answer we need."

  "Why not?" Bran asked, expression guarded. Leena's, she noticed, was the same. They were waiting for her to give them a reason to believe her, to follow her.

  Jinji sank into the chair next to Rhen and grabbed his hand under the table, gripping it for strength. The time had come to reveal at least part of the truth. If she didn't speak honestly, she would lose their trust. Already, her riders were slipping away, unease evident in their eyes. And Jinji wasn't ready to let them go, not yet.

  "I've not been totally honest with you …" she began. And then Jinji told them all about the spirit inside her head and of the fight that had been cycling for centuries between the shadow and his spirit-self, sharing visions of her past lives. Even as her voice caught, she admitted to her riders that the shadow could be killed if its true body was killed. She warned it would be a temporary fix, not a real solution. She never lied, not exactly. She just forgot to mention that she already knew whom the true body belonged to—that the shadow was sitting and listening to their conversation right now, hidden behind the face of Janu.

  And when Jinji looked over toward her brother's body, surprise lined the shadow's eyes as he listened to her spill information he thought she would keep close. But it was partly due to the shadow that she told the truth now. Like he often said, his spirit-self liked keeping secrets, and Jinji didn't want to follow that same road. She didn’t want to end up alone.

  With each word, the next came easier. A weight began to lift from her heart.

  Maybe she could tell them the whole truth.

  Maybe they would all understand.

  Maybe.

  "So," Rhen said when she was done, still holding on to her fingers. "If we kill the shadow's true self, he will just return as someone else?"

  "Yes," she agreed. "Eventually."

  "But if we do, the phantoms will stop coming, at least for a time?" he asked.

  "Yes, but—"

  "I think we have no other choice," he interrupted.

  Her heart sank. "I—"

  "I agree," Leena said, cutting in.

  "Me as well," Bran added.

  "But that won't solve anything," Jinji said, voice rising in frustration. "Did you not hear what I just said? The shadow will only come back. The only way to stop this is to figure out what he wants from us and to give it to him."

  "But according to this voice of yours, what he wants is impossible," Rhen retorted, his face growing more animated with each passing word. "You say the last time, the voice agreed to go back with him to this middle world, this ether. And with her presence gone from our living world, it began to die in some way that only she can sense. Which is why she came back and broke her word to the shadow, to save our world from destruction. So no matter what, the shadow wants to end the world as we know it. Either this spirit will return with him to the ether and the world will slowly crumble without her presence, or the phantoms will destroy us all. At least if we find this true body and we destroy it, we'll gain some time to figure out a next step. And perhaps there is no next step—maybe that's why the dragons were created in the first place. To keep finding this true body and to keep destroying it."

  Jinji had no response. She just swallowed, soul breaking into little shards as she glanced around at her three riders, their eyes shining in agreement. They had a leader. And for the first time, she realized, it wasn't her.

  Leena reached out, placing a warm friendly hand on her shoulder. "Rhen's right. If we can just give ourselves more time, maybe when the shadow returns, we will know how to defeat him once and for all."

  Jinji didn't move.

  Rhen answered for her. "Exactly. First, we find the air rider. And then we concentrate on finding the true body and destroying it."

  His voice was invigorated, more alive than it had been in days.

  Leena's smile was wide, gaze brimming over with new hope.

  Even Bran had more bounce in his step.

  Jinji remained still as the three of them continued chatting, discussing the best ways to locate this true body, how they could destroy it. Her riders left the kitchen, not realizing she didn't follow. They searched for their dragons, ready to move now that a plan had been established. But Jinji stayed put, staring into blank space, wondering what in the world she had just done.

  Why had she told them the truth?

  She had thought for a split second maybe they would be on her side, maybe they would understand. For a moment, Jinji had let herself believe the voice had been wrong about Rhen, about how he would react to her brother's true identity. But now she was more certain than ever. If he found out the true body was Janu, he would hate her. He would kill her brother. And there would be no coming back from that.

  "I'm touched you are so bothered by the idea of my imminent demise," the shadow whispered.

  Jinji flinched. She had forgotten she wasn’t alone, and she met her brother's eyes with trepidation. "I'm not fighting for you."

  "And yet, here we are, alone again. I'm curious, why not just tell them who I am and get it over with? Surely, they'll listen to you."

  But there was too much humor coloring those words. He knew exactly why she had remained silent. Jinji chose not to give him the satisfaction of a respon
se.

  "Did I hear the fire rider say he would lead you toward Roninhythe in search of the last rider? I've been to those ports before. Plenty of ships overflowing with sailors."

  She snapped her head up, narrowing her gaze. "He said no such thing."

  The shadow shrugged. "I'm quite sure I heard Roninhythe is your next destination. Maybe that was before you arrived. What did happen to you during the night? Wandering the halls again? Did you like the view?"

  The mocking edge to his tone was unmistakable. Somehow, the shadow knew Jinji had woken alone on top of one of the castle towers. Even more aggravating, Jinji sensed that somehow he knew what had brought her there in the first place. But she refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting that she herself had no clue why or how she'd gotten there. So, with a shrug, she smoothly replied, "I needed some fresh air."

  The shadow's smile deepened meaningfully, as though he could taste the lie hanging in the space between them. "I hope the mountain breeze cleared your doubts. You're going to need to be ready if you want to defeat my army."

  "Why? What are you planning?"

  "Oh, nothing," he murmured, sighing. "I just hope the city your prince loves so much is still standing by the time you arrive."

  "Stop!" she shouted, standing, pulling on the shadow's shirt and tugging him close. "Just stop. Leave those people be."

  He started to laugh. "What would be the fun in that?"

  And then he was gone. The clouds in his eyes cleared. Jinji shifted, pulling her brother into her chest and hugging him tight, trying to hide the hate gleaming deep in the ebony shadows of her irises.

  "Jinji?" The voice was all Janu.

  She shook her head, leaning back and turning around, unable to look at him. "We must go. We must wake the last dragon before it is too late."

  "What happened? What has the shadow done now?" He grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop. "What aren't you telling me?"

  Jinji met her brother's earnest honey gaze, wincing inwardly. "There's no time. The shadow is sending his army to an innocent city, and we must get there before he does."